Colreevy

27th-Apr-2021

This has been billed as the clash of the week, Monkfish v Envoi Allen, two of the most exciting chasers in training, and first and second favourites for next year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup in some lists.

But I think that the market has under-rated Colreevy’s chance of beating the two of them.

Willie Mullins’ mare is a top class chaser.  She only won one of her four hurdle races last season, but she has won all four chases this term, including the new Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham last time, when she battled on well to beat her top class stable companion Elimay by a half a length, giving her 2lb.

She was a top class bumper mare too, she beat Abacadabras and Beacon Edge to win the Grade 1 Champion Bumper at the Punchestown Festival in 2019.

On ratings, she has nothing at all to find with Monkfish and Envoi Allen.  Her rating of 158 leaves her 5lb lower than the former and 6lb lower than the latter, and she receives the 7lb mares’ allowance from both of them.  As well as that, she is in foal, this will be her last race, and mares can improve significantly when they go in foal.

She loves Punchestown, she is three for three there, a Grade 3 bumper, a Grade 1 bumper and a novices’ chase, and she goes well on the yielding ground that Punchestown will surely produce for Tuesday.  She shouldn’t be a 9/1 or 10/1 shot.  It is correct that she is third favourite, but I was thinking that she should be around half those odds.

COLREEVY WON (ADV 9/1, SP 7/1)